People love the idea of making money online. What’s not to love? There’s no working for someone else, there’s no commute, no boss to answer to, no office politics or annoying co-workers. It’s an ideal way to make money.

But there’ is a dark side to all of this. About 9 out of 10 people looking for ways to make money online never make any money at all.

Why? Because they skip the very things that ensure success.

The good news is that there’s no shortage of money making opportunities on the web, but no opportunity will make you money if you neglect the things that make success possible. Things like:

  • Research and making a business plan
  • Finding a Focused niche
  • Identifying your target customer
  • Focusing on the customer experience
  • Having no money to get started

Research and making a business plan

Opportunities can look great on the surface but without adequate research you can’t determine the costs, risks, skills, or
even what the benefits are. That’s where a good business plan comes in. How will you know what is needed if you don’t
research the business and find out what’s required of you before you begin?

Creating a business plan is essential to helping you determine if an opportunity fits your lifestyle, your personality and
your potential skills. If it doesn’t, you’re not likely to make any money, and if you do, it’s not going to be something you’ll
stick with for very long.

Some business opportunities require high up front costs, promising quick riches, only to disappoint you in the end with
more work requirements than you expected and possibly additional costs that you didn’t expect. None of us wants to fall
prey to scammers and unscrupulous marketers, however without a business plan it’s easier to be taken advantage of.

Find A Focused Niche

The worst thing you can do is try to be everything to everyone, so don’t even try. Instead take your area of interest and narrow it down to a focused niche.

For example, lamps is very broad, but ‘lava lamps’ is more targeted.

Skin care is hugely broad, but’ teen acne’ is very focused.

Shoes is extremely large but ‘women’s travel shoes’ is focused.

Getting the idea?

Having a focused niche will make it easier to create a brand for yourself, and make it easier be found online, giving you the best chance to make the most money.

Identify your Target Customer

Once you have an idea for how to make money online, you’ll need to identify and find precisely the customers most interested in what you have to offer.

You’ll need to ask yourself questions like:

  • What are their ages?
  • Are they primarily men or women?
  • What’s their average income?
  • What things get their attention?
  • What kinds of things do they typically buy?

Knowing these things can help you tailor your product descriptions to catch the attention of your audience and put less distance between you and your buyer.

Focus on the Customer Experience

Make it a goal to give your customers the best experience you can. Find ways to make it easy for your clients to do business with you.

Doing these things will not just attract customers, you’ll attract repeat customers who will provide word of mouth referrals, which is ideal for any business. This is especially true online where your reputation is viral if it’s good, but even more viral if it’s not so good. Think about that.

Whatever your business is, however you choose to make money, you need to offer a seamless solution. If you create a website, it needs to be attractive, easy to navigate and offer your customers a quicker, easier checkout experience. You don’t need to be technical to pull these things off but you do need to research available options so that you can pick the best solution for your target demographic.

Having No Money To Get Started

It’s naive to think you won’t need money to get started online. Granted, online costs aren’t as great as starting an offline business, but there are still tools, training and resources necessary for success.

If you have to hold back on costs and settle for using only free tools and resources, your success will not only take longer, the frustration level and unprofessionalism that come with using only free tools, makes it almost impossible to compete with those who have a budget to work with.

If you’re not sure how large of a budget you’ll need, having a business plan will give you a good idea.

Taking time to plan out your business strategy and research your market, your competition, your customers, and the current industry trends will allow you to hit the ground running, avoiding pitfalls, mistakes, and worst of all, wasting time and money.